Volcanic eruption in Canary Islands destroys over 500 houses

A volcano on Spain’s La Palma island began ejecting lava again after a lull, while hundreds of people in coastal villages hunkered down in anticipation of lava emitted in previous days, reaching the sea and releasing toxic gas, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Spurts of vivid lava emerged from the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the early evening and snaked down the dark mountainside after several hours without explosions.

The hiatus and new explosions came eight days after lava started pouring from the mountain range on the island, which neighbors Tenerife in the Canary Islands archipelago off North Africa.

Since September 19, black lava has been slowly flowing down the volcano’s western flank toward the sea, destroying more than 500 houses as well as churches and banana plantations, according to the European Union’s Copernicus disaster monitoring program.

Spanish property portal Idealista estimated the damage at around 178 million euros ($209 million) on September 27.

About 300 residents in the coastal areas of San Borondon, Marina Alta and Baja and La Condesa have been confined to their homes as the moment of contact between the lava, and the sea is likely to trigger explosions and emit clouds of chlorine gas.

La Palma’s population numbers over 83,000.